


Why the Fire is Red

by AconiteandAbsinthe



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Insecurity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:03:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1911978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AconiteandAbsinthe/pseuds/AconiteandAbsinthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Donna end up on a planet where color and art is one of the most important aspects of life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Grinning ear to ear, the Doctor parked the TARDIS. Even though he had set it to random, he knew where they had landed. Tanlig Dansioma was legend among travelers such as him, and though he had never been here personally he had always wanted to come. He turned to Donna, still grinning like an idiot, and she smirked at him fondly. 

“Where have you taken us this time, Spaceman?” she asked with much amusement, “It must be even more fascinating than that last Planet of Old and Dusty Museums if your face is anything to go by.”

His returning smirk was so large Donna thought she might be able to count all thirty six of his teeth. “Oh, it is Donna. Welcome to the home of the dancing fire,” he said and watched for her reaction to this brilliant news.

She was not impressed. Ridiculously desperate to change that, he continued on. “The air is made of fire. And when the wind blows, it dances,” he told her, “The natives found a way to incorporate different wavelengths of photons into the atmosphere. It isn’t literally fire, but they say that the reds and oranges and yellows all look so much like bursting flames that the entire planet is referred to as the Dancing Fire planet,” his face held a dreaming look that she found insanely endearing, “Imagine that the air wasn’t clear up close. Imagine that you could see color reflecting off of the oxygen and nitrogen all around you. Oh, I’ve always wanted see it.”

His enthusiasm was so bright that, as always, Donna got caught up in his description and found herself intensely curious about this new planet. Not willing to let him know he had won her over, she asked, “If the air isn’t clear, Spaceman, then how can you see to get around?”

“Well, it’s not all colored. Only the parts that someone deliberately colored shine. It is part of the courting customs here where the man who creates the most beautiful fire is seen as more desirable. Nobody quite understands how they do it, but some property of their scales allows them to become reflective after they’ve been shed. The colors shine into the air and catch on the elements.”

“Well that just sounds more like luck than anything. How’s that fair to the males born with less colorful scales?” Donna asked with a frown on her face, indignant now. She particularly disliked it whenever the Doctor introduced her to a culture that mated based off of appearance.

“No, it not like that,” the Doctor replied quickly, knowing that this was a touchy subject for his dear friend, “The scales only reflect color. The males have to make something called cymysgedd lliw, which is like a sort of pigment, to put on the scales. It’s like painting, and the most artistic male is considered the best because creativity and imagination are very highly prized here.”

“Oh. Well, that’s alright then,” Donna conceded, but she still looked vaguely upset, “As long as they’re not all being judged for how they look. There’s more to people than that, you know.”

The Doctor tensed up. He hated when Donna felt the need to lecture like that, like she was trying to convince him of something he already knew, like she was trying to convince herself of something she wanted to believe. He frowned and said gently, “Of course I know that-“  
He was cut off by a very large – very forced – smile on Donna’s face as she asked, “Well, Time Lord, are you going to show me this miraculous planet, or are we gonna sit in the TARDIS and chat all day?”

He very nearly pressed the subject, but the mild panic in her blue-gold eyes made him pause. Unwilling to upset her further, and a bit reluctant to broach an emotional subject just before an adventure, he let the subject drop. She put her hands on her hips challengingly and his answering smile erased her panic. He made a silly little bow and gestured toward the door. She gave a short laugh and loped toward it. The Doctor followed and reached out to lay his hand on the door.

As he prepared to open it into this brand new world he took a look at his (very lovely) companion. She wore a purple blouse that showed only a little skin, as was her preference. Her jeans and sturdy boots screamed of the practicality she had developed after her first few adventures. All of this contrasted wonderfully with her bright eyes and beautiful smile. At this moment, and most others if he was honest, he was completely enraptured by her physical presence. Suddenly he found himself wondering what her fiery hair would look like set next to the dancing fires of legend. And he decided they probably couldn’t compare.

With that thought in mind he opened the door and they faced a new world together.


	2. Chapter 2

“Y’know, it’s pretty and all, Doctor,” Donna said quietly, “but it doesn’t look like fire. It’s not even that colorful.”

She was right. All around there were shimmering blue and green mirages that looked like a condensed version of the aurora. However, there was nothing that could be considered flame like. “It appears so,” the Doctor replied mournfully, but quickly changed his tune and hopped up and down on his toes, “Let’s go find out why.”

He grasped his companion’s hand and pulled her through the blue lights. She followed with only a token resistance. Surprising both herself and the Doctor, she allowed him to hold her hand until they found themselves next to an official looking building, at which point she disentangled their slightly sweaty fingers. In order to allay his inevitable disappointment at the loss, she shot him a little smile. Bloody alien put way too much stock in physical contact.

There were a few humanoid creatures milling around, and the Doctor and Donna were starting to draw a crowd. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered. “They are called Pendines. Bipedal species, four upper extremities, gray scales, but otherwise human-looking,” the Doctor explained.

“Yeah, I have eyes, thank you very much,” she whispered back fiercely, flustered by his proximity, “Just tell me if these ones have got any weird customs I need to know about. Like if I’m going to get thrown in jail for smiling at them.”

The Doctor winced in remembrance. “No, none that I’m aware of at least,” he said, then stood up tall to approach an incoming Pendine, “Hello there! I’m the Doctor and this is Donna. We’re travelers of a sort and we’ve just arrived on this wonderful planet of yours.”

“I am Trifis. Greetings Doctor, Donna,” he said, with his gaze lingering on Donna, “Such beautiful people are certainly welcome here.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor replied, accepting the compliment as their due, “Tell us what are all of these beautiful lights?”

Next to him, Donna tuned out the technobabble that whirled past her. Normally she would at least try to pay attention for the off chance she understood something. Now, however, she allowed herself to be distracted by the stares of the Pendines. Donna had thought she was used to being gawked at for being off-worlders, but their gazes were beginning to unsettle her. They were looking at her as though she were some sort of painting in a museum. Even Trifis, who was still engaged in a conversation with the Doctor, couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of her for very long.

The Doctor turned toward her suddenly. “Donna! We’ve come early. Apparently all of the colors on Tanlig Dansioma lay within the blue-yellow spectrum. They’ve never seen red or any of its derivatives before.”

“That explains it then,” she murmured.

“Explains what?”

“Why they’re all staring at me. I’m a freak show.”

The Doctor’s eyes grew wide. “Of course you aren’t, Donna. Don’t you see? You’re the reason it starts,” he said softly, “The Pendines, they love beautiful things above all else. And right now, you are the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen. I’d bet the sonic that you are the inspiration behind their love for red.”

Donna turned away. “Don’t patronize me like that. I know I’m nothing to look at,” she said with her eyes downcast, “Can we leave now?”

He shook his head. “Oh, you silly human, never seeing yourself clearly,” the Doctor soothed.

He approached her slowly and cupped her cheek, gently turning her face toward his. She allowed it, and turned slightly into the comfort he offered. To her pride, her voice was only slightly rough when she said, “Let’s just get back to the TARDIS.”

The Doctor was about to reassure her again, but Trifis beat him to it. “It’s true, what the man says, Miss Donna. Truly you are a wonderful sight. Such a breathtaking color. Would you do us the honor of allowing us to recreate it?” he asked reverently.

“See Donna,” the Doctor said, whispering in her ear again, “The inspiration behind the dancing fire. An entire planets definition of beauty, all based on you. Perks of being a time traveler,” he grinned.

Donna pulled away from the Doctor’s hand to look at their gathering. She missed the way his grin faded just a tiny bit. “Yeah, alright,” she said, just the very tips of her teeth showing in a smile, “How do you create a color you’ve never seen before?”

Trifis beamed at her. “Thank you, Kindness. The process is simple. By capturing the reflection of your hair on phosetson platelets in the shed scales, we can replicate…”

She didn’t hear the rest of his explanation as she focused on fighting off a blush. The Doctor had moved to stand just behind her, with his chest barely touching her right shoulder. She was unused to this much attention being paid to her, and for what felt like the umpteenth time that night she was overwhelmed. Deciding to muster up all of the spit-fire courage she was known for, Donna forced a smile to her face, took a step away from the Doctor and toward the Pendine who was motioning for her to follow him. “On with the photo-reflective plate replimagigey,” she said, and followed him up the stairs into the building.

*************************************************************************************

The Doctor stood passively as he watched Donna being led away. He hoped fiercely that the Pendine’s regard for Donna would help boost her self-confidence.  
He was well aware that his friend did not believe herself beautiful. And he was beginning to think it ran deeper than that. She was always disparaging her self-worth when it came to her intelligence as well. But, truly, he thought she was brilliant. And his thoughts counted for something. He’d met thousands of humans, and while all of them were special and important in some ways, not all of them were great. And he only took the best.

When he had first met Donna, he had not been thinking clearly. He’d just lost Rose, and if he was honest with himself, he was angry at the world. Every time he thought of those words he’d said to her on the rooftop his stomach curled up in guilt. Had he ever apologized? Not in so many words at least. Maybe he should.

For she was special and powerful and clever. Every day, every adventure they had, she amazed him. And she made him laugh all the time. Not many people could say that. And she always knew when he was sad. He would look up from one of his sulks and find her sitting there next to him quietly. Not giving him tea, or nonsense words, just her presence. And sometimes, and these were the times he treasured, she would reach out and squeeze his hand softly. It was the only time she ever initiated contact, and it always chased away whatever sadness had been plaguing him. And really, she must be brilliant manage with so little what others had failed with much more.

She had so many amazing qualities that he never knew quite where to start. He loved her mouth especially. Well, the way she used it. For talking, obviously. And arguing. Wonderful Donna, always with a fight to win. And he thought he had a gob! What magnificent rows they’d had. She never let him get away with anything. Sometimes he didn’t even know what they were fighting over, only that he’d lost. Then she would smile that smirky smile at him with those red lips that had six wonderfully placed freckles, and he’d know he was forgiven. For whatever indignity he’d subjected her to that time.

Really, who could compare? She was clever and compassionate. Beautiful, of course. Loving and passionate and giving. She was his best friend, and he did love nothing in the universe so well as her.

Oh.

Oh, no.

She’s gonna be pissed.


End file.
